Naturel - Helium

Just how fly is Naturel, the Northeastern up-and-comer previously heard on last year’s Say? Hmmm, what can I compare him to without sounding totally cliché... an airplane? A bird? A winged insect of the cyclorrhapha order? OK, I’m stumped—fortunately, the up-and-comer has a fresh simile pre-selected for his latest single: “I’m so fly, like I been gone off the Helium.” While it may be a slight letdown to learn that he doesn’t rap the whole record in sped-up Quasimoto style, that momentary disappointment will quickly fade as you start nodding your head along to !llmind and Symbolyc One‘s rumbling percussion, organ chords and synth blurts (with additional guitar by Dr. Know, JR.). Naturel comes with rhymes to match, illuminating his M.O. in bars packed with memorable turns of phrase: “Ain’t never had a rope chain, never have I ever had to peddle cocaine like a dope man—nope man, young’n had a plan, to get the game swingin’ off the wingtips…” Is this the kind of joint that’ll send Naturel’s career soaring to new heights like… um… a thing that soars? If so, keep it locked for news on the artist’s debut audio-visual opus, The Momentous, coming early next month.